I am going to be running the CPD regarding Fixed Costs in Probate over again, including some updates for the legislative changes that became effective in December 2025. We will be looking at -
Is everything that you do up to the point of obtaining Probate covered by fixed costs?
What standard, Probate work can you charge at your normal hourly rate?
What are we advising on in a standard, initial appointment, and how much of that is covered by fixed costs?
How are you recording your time so that you can issue a bill for the work that is not fixed, and so that you have better reporting on the time taken to complete a Probate matter?
By registering for the event you will not only get to attend the event, and ask questions and learn from other practitioners in real time, but you will also get -
a 26 page PDF booklet setting out the requirements for fixed costs, along with examples of work that is not covered by the fixed costs
the slides from the CPD training itself
a set of slides in PDF format representing a typical initial consultation - this is a summary of all of the topics that the various participants at the previous CPDs came up with when asked, what do you discuss at a typical initial consultation with your client. I did not prepare these for you to use for an initial consultation, they are a bit too blunt for our grieving clients, but it was the easiest way to group the topics together so that you can get a birds eye view of what advice you give during an initial consultation, and therefore, what is covered by the fixed costs.
a precedent initial letter to the Executor in word format - again this was primarily prepared in an effort to summarise for everyone the topics that were discussed, the topics that the lawyers present at previous CPDs mentioned that they discuss with their clients in this very initial stage of the matter. You are however welcome to use it as a letter.
There are three events on the day, and the cost for the three events is $175 per person. If you just want to do this topic, not the other two, then this topic is $90 per person. The other topics are -
POAs and Elder Abuse - what presumptions are the clients making, why is the timing of the abuse important, and how do we help them to choose the right Attorney?
Non-standard Probate applications - what happens when your application doesn’t quite fit the online Probate system? What are some requisitions that others have received and how do we avoid those?
In keeping with previous CPDs, you will get a $50 discount code if you email a requisition from the Supreme Court in relation to an Estate matter and provide enough information for the requisition to make sense. I will bundle them together and they will form part of the subject matter material available to participants. Email it to janis@janisconsults.com and then I will send you the discount code and a survey for you to complete with further questions.
You can find out more about the event by going into the Facebook Group, or you can register for the event by clicking on the button below.
NSW Estate Lawyers Facebook Group
Did you know about the free Facebook Group? This is a group for NSW Estate Lawyers to discuss things that are particular to practising Estate law in this State. Here are some examples of things we might discuss -
(1) Does anyone have a list of local lawyers for XYZ suburb so I can send out a letter enquiring if they hold a Will?
(2) My client’s situation is slightly different to the standard issue Affidavit, do you handwrite in an amending sentence, or do something else?
Of course more recently there is a lot of discussion about pragmatic issues with the new online system. We might also share the occasional post that only other lawyers who practice in this area will appreciate. The idea is to help and support each other, and share information that is helpful.
If you would like to join you can just search for “NSW Estate Lawyers” in groups on Facebook, please make sure that you answer the questions.
